DETROIT — Cade Cunningham scored 23 points, Tobias Harris had 20 and the Detroit Pistons beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111-101 on Tuesday night in Game 1 of their second-round series.
Duncan Robinson added 19 points for the top-seeded Pistons, who ended an NBA record-tying 12-game postseason losing streak against a single opponent, a drought that dated to the 2007 Eastern Conference finals.
Game 2 is Thursday night in Detroit.
The Pistons forced 20 turnovers that led to 31 points in a strong performance against Cleveland’s potent backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden.
“That’s what this series presents, but we’re up for a challenge,” Harris said. “I thought tonight we did a great job of that.”
Mitchell scored 23 points, ending his NBA-record streak of scoring 30-plus points in nine straight series openers.
Harden had 22 points and Max Strus scored 19 for the No. 4-seeded Cavs, who pulled into a tie midway through the fourth quarter after trailing for most of the night and by as much as 18 points.
Harden committed seven turnovers and pointed the blame at himself.
“You look within first,” he said. “Look at my turnovers and a lot of them are just on me and nothing they did.”
Cleveland center Jarrett Allen was limited to two points and three rebounds, coming off a 22-point, 19-rebound performance in an elimination game against Toronto.
Two days after both teams won a Game 7, the Pistons started strong and led 37-31 after a quarter. Detroit took a 59-46 lead into the second half, when the cushion was no longer comfortable.
Cleveland pulled within three points late in the third and Ron Holland hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the quarter and put the Pistons up 83-76.
After the Cavs cut their deficit to three again early in the fourth, the Pistons responded with eight consecutive points to restore a double-digit lead.
Cleveland, though, wouldn’t go away.
Harden, playing the Pistons for the first time since Cleveland acquired him, scored seven straight points to pull the Cavs into a 93-all tie with 5:28 left.
Jalen Duren blocked Harden’s next shot and dunked on Detroit’s next three possessions — each off Cunningham assists.
The Pistons won the Central Division this year by eight games ahead of the defending champion Cavs, splitting four games during the regular season.
Detroit earned 60 victories and the top seed in the East just two years after losing 68 games and setting a single-season NBA record with 28 straight losses.
The Pistons rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the first round against Orlando to advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
Cleveland outlasted Toronto in seven games to reach the second round for the third straight year, a run that started with Bickerstaff, who was fired by the Cavs and hired a month later by the Pistons.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
